•"I look forward to being thrown into a situation with people I have never played with before, who may come from musical backgrounds other than my own. The potential to learn a lot is very great." _Katie Gilchrest, Arcane Lore

• "Leif [Sherman Curtis] asked me to do it last year, but I couldn't find the time; seems interesting, but I haven't seen the movie." _Casey McCurry, Satellite Lot

In case you haven't seen the movie, or last year's inaugural 48 Hour Music Festival, let's start with the facts. On March 4, two-dozen-plus local musicians, many of whom have barely met, will gather in a room. Their names will be put in a hat. Their names will be pulled out of a hat. Every four (or five) names chosen, in sequence, will have to become a band for the weekend.

Hear more onlineFor a full taste of the fruits of last year's labor, head to 48hourmusicfestival.bandcamp.com, where you can download high-quality audio of last year's festival. You'll hear a smart pop band, some solid metal and dark-rock acts, and, in the form of the three-drummer sensory assault Vicious Blow, one of the best one-off performances in recent local music history.

They'll be assigned to a practice space. They'll spend a substantial chunk of the next 48 hours in that space, in which time it's mandated that they name their band, establish roles for themselves, and create a 25-minute set of original music. On Saturday, March 6, at 9 pm, all six bands will have their debut performances at SPACE Gallery, where they'll play to a sold-out crowd of nearly 300 people. (It's highly recommended you buy your $10 ticket through space538.org post haste, if you haven't already.)

Above all else, the 48 Hour Music Festival is — apart from an exciting evening of spontaneously created rock talent — an intriguing exercise in community building. What's even more interesting is the community it's building. The players participating in the event are, by and large, not members of the Portland Music Foundation or participants in the Clash of the Titans tribute night series, two of Portland's most prominent opportunities for musicians to network or collaborate. Most of them are disparate members of the thriving yet underexposed hard-rock scene in Portland, largely centered at clubs like Geno's or (more recently) Flask Lounge. The 48 Hour Music Festival is not just an opportunity for this diverse scene to coalesce; it's a chance for its participants to own the local spotlight for a night, and shed a deserved light on their craft.

Caleb Coulthard

• "I play music that's written with at least half a brain, and I write a lot of it. I wouldn't do it if I had a choice, maybe." _Caleb Coulthard, Big Meat Hammer

Salli Wason

• "My purpose is to prevent a seven-car pileup on the pretentiousness turnpike through the use of Satanic hypnosis. I plan to use this opportunity to exalt myself and embarrass my children, and I will arrive armed with sarcasm, and also with muffins — you know, so I can play good cop/bad cop. I am going to have a killer time, make new friends, and be sure to keep my ego in check. I'm ready for anything! Let's Rock!" _Salli Wason, Hessian

TEN YEARS, A WAVE | September 26, 2014 As the festival has evolved, examples of Fowlie’s preferred breed of film—once a small niche of the documentary universe—have become a lot more common, a lot more variegated, and a lot more accomplished.

GIRLS (AND BOYS) ON FILM | July 11, 2014 The Maine International Film Festival, now in its 17th year in Waterville, remains one of the region’s more ambitious cultural institutions, less bound by a singular ambition than a desire to convey the breadth and depth of cinema’s past and present. (This, and a healthy dose of music and human-interest documentaries.) On that account, MIFF ’14 is an impressive achievement, offering area filmgoers its best program in years. With so much to survey, let’s make haste with the recommendations. (Particularly emphatic suggestions are marked in bold print.)

AMERICAN VALUES | June 11, 2014 The Immigrant seamlessly folds elements of New York history and the American promise into a story about the varieties of captivity and loyalty.

CHARACTER IS POLITICAL | April 10, 2014 Kelly Reichardt, one of the most admired and resourceful voices in American independent cinema, appears at the Portland Museum of Art Friday night to participate in a weekend-long retrospective of her three most recent films.

LET'S TALK ABOUT SEX | April 09, 2014 Throughout its two volumes and four hours of explicit sexuality, masochism, philosophical debate, and self-analysis, Nymphomaniac remains the steadfast vision of a director talking to himself, and assuming you’ll be interested enough in him to listen and pay close attention.